For an Architecture of Reality

0930829050|9780930829056. For an Architecture of Reality published in the year 1992. The author of this book is Michael Benedikt . We have a dedicated page displaying collection of Michael Benedikt books here. This is the Paperback version of the title "For an Architecture of Reality ". For an Architecture of Reality is currently Available with us.

Paperback, 74 pages

Published
January 1st 1992
by Lumen Books
(first published September 1st 1988)

Community Reviews

great book about the importance of "real" architecture; not "garlands that are not garlands" (ex: Michael graves building in downtown portland). this book really pushed the envelope of my understanding on why turn of the century industrial warehouse buildings are such amazingly adaptable creations. contrast to the dry-wall, glass-facade skyscraper. fit to last a maximum of eighty dreary years, with little to no hope for retrofit, while our warehouses will reinvent themselves for centuries. benedgreat book about the importance of "real" architecture; not "garlands that are not garlands" (ex: Michael graves building in downtown portland). this book really pushed the envelope of my understanding on why turn of the century industrial warehouse buildings are such amazingly adaptable creations. contrast to the dry-wall, glass-facade skyscraper. fit to last a maximum of eighty dreary years, with little to no hope for retrofit, while our warehouses will reinvent themselves for centuries. benedikt states: "a building should not be slave to its program," and i agree. i do get lost in some of his descriptions of "nature", as "arbitrary" and innevitable; but who has not had a problem with the litany of writers, who with their vague and undeveloped descriptions of nature topple into a sandbox of mud? this wont be the first or the last time. Significant buildings are achieved and not provided...they are built over time by someone rather than arriving all but ready-made by strangers. benedikt instills a sense of what loss we feel when our buildings appropriate a disintegrated, misinterpretted and poorly crafted style in the name of "progress". lets move to austin and sit in on his lectures. shall we?...more

Although I may not agree with all the claims made in this book, it really is an amazing read. Michael Benedikt's observations have really changed the way I view the relationship between art and reality. This made for a wonderful introduction to architectural theory and I would strongly recommend giving this small book a read.

Back in my early nineties undergrad days, a few of my colleagues embraced Benedikt’s extended essay as something of a Bible. Inspired, I ran out, located it in a used bookshop, purchased it, and promptly sat down to read all 68 pages about 18 years later. This was, therefore, a tad out of date (as is this “review” since I read it like three months ago and I’ve been to Vegas since…). However, as I was somewhat conscious around the time this was penned and I have indeed read a few books in the intBack in my early nineties undergrad days, a few of my colleagues embraced Benedikt’s extended essay as something of a Bible. Inspired, I ran out, located it in a used bookshop, purchased it, and promptly sat down to read all 68 pages about 18 years later. This was, therefore, a tad out of date (as is this “review” since I read it like three months ago and I’ve been to Vegas since…). However, as I was somewhat conscious around the time this was penned and I have indeed read a few books in the interim, I can both understand its place within that time and propose that it still has a certain, perhaps even equal amount of validity within our globe-hopping, “starchitect” milieu.

Contextually speaking, this is an obvious reaction against the prevailing modus operandi of “Post Modern” architecture that, circa 1988, had a certain acceptance, amazingly, in both the academic and practical realms of the profession as well as in the field of general developer-developments. Think of all the kitche, dryvit-clad, historicistoid suburban strip malls, non-strip malls, and housing developments thrown up coast-to-coast. Furthermore, the rumblings out of/in/with Columbia, Zaha’s office, OMA’s increasingly “real” work, a number of SoCal offices, and Eisenman’s embrace of digital technology were soon to lead (officially, I suppose, in 1989) to a new, dramatic reaction to PoMo that Benedikt’s essay also could poignantly counteract. In short, this parallels Kenneth Frampton’s “Critical Regionalism” but is composed in a more experiential, less acerbic/academic manner that was certainly easier to digest.

Positioning such “un-real” constructs as Johnson’s School of Architecture building in Houston and work of the Venturis and Graves against old masonry walls, various vernacular Texan and Mexican markets, cafes, and churches, and an Agrest Gandelsonas building in Argentina (and, coincidentally I’m sure, a house under construction and designed by one Michael Benedikt), the author stays away from direct prescriptions. This is more about the experiential, haptic, and I guess, weighty content of a building that serves a particular purpose in a particular context. There’s a tendency to approach this as pieces - edge, staircase, street sign, shadow, roof - that tilts towards Christopher Alexander’s “patterns” published some time before. However Benedikt keeps this more abstract. The tone and proclamations are more metaphysical than specifically physical (and the images representing the physical corollaries aren’t exactly glossy, full page money-shots). Despite the poetic demeanor of this, there’s a definite clarity and groundedness. My guess is that Benedikt’s short book should prove engaging to those who locate this in a used bookshop and promptly sit down to read tomorrow, or in 2029....more

In this books Benedikt argues that architecture has to be about ‘reality’ and not a mere form and medium of communication. Architecture and hence buildings have to have the ability of creating a direct aesthetic experience of their own reality which he suggests take place if the building has four independent qualities; presence-significance-materiality-emptiness. This is a great book on highlighting the importance of shifting from creating illusions to depicting reality through an art form thatIn this books Benedikt argues that architecture has to be about ‘reality’ and not a mere form and medium of communication. Architecture and hence buildings have to have the ability of creating a direct aesthetic experience of their own reality which he suggests take place if the building has four independent qualities; presence-significance-materiality-emptiness. This is a great book on highlighting the importance of shifting from creating illusions to depicting reality through an art form that has its own “aboutness” ...more